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<blockquote data-quote="Morrus" data-source="post: 9483204" data-attributes="member: 1"><p><strong>Review of "D&D Realms" (dndrealms.com)</strong></p><p></p><p>D&D Realms purports to sell 5,000 D&D maps for £22. Additionally, there are 250+ character tokens available. They claim to have thousands of satisfied customers, so they're clearly very successful.</p><p></p><p>As it's impossible to preview the product outside of some small cropped thumbnails, I've taken a hit for the team and purchased the basic pack for £22 (there are 'advanced' and 'complete' packs for £26 and £31, respectively). Here's a basic review, with a few selected examples.</p><p></p><p>So, after purchase you get an email with a link to a folder online full of maps. Some are overheard views, others are isometric views.</p><p></p><p>The folder contains a whole load of subfolders, each with a map type in it. The folders basically look like this (this is the 'country" folder):</p><p></p><p>[ATTACH=full]382774[/ATTACH]</p><p></p><p>The maps within (and each folder has between 4 and 50-ish maps) are all given the same title.</p><p></p><p><em>"A bustling street market alive with the aroma of spices and the chatter of vendors"</em> for example contains 56 variations on that map/theme.</p><p></p><p><em>"A bustling fishing harbor with boats unloading their catch and seagulls wheeling overhead"</em> contains 33 variations on that map.</p><p></p><p>Some others, such as <em>"A mysterious fog-shrouded swamp with twisted trees and hidden dangers"</em> contain just 4 or so variations.</p><p></p><p>Here's an example of one of the latter (from the swamp folder):</p><p></p><p>[ATTACH=full]382770[/ATTACH]</p><p></p><p>This one is in the 'canyons' folder (along with 4 other similar pieces).</p><p></p><p>[ATTACH=full]382771[/ATTACH]</p><p></p><p>Those look like isometric art pieces (no grid). The 'castel' (sic) folder has a mix of isometric and overhead views. Here's one of the overhead views.</p><p></p><p>[ATTACH=full]382772[/ATTACH]</p><p></p><p>Every map has a descriptive header at the top--in each folder, all the maps have the same header. The above one, for example, along with its 8 variations all say <em>"A mysterious labyrinth hidden beneath an ancient castle, filled with secrets and traps"</em>.</p><p></p><p>[ATTACH=full]382773[/ATTACH]</p><p></p><p>The folders themselves have names like: canyon, castel (sic), cave, coral, country, forest, garden, harbor, hilltop, lake side, market, moutain (sic), oasis, park, river side, ruin, sea side, skyscrapers, square, street art, street festival, swamp, underground, village, and waterfall.</p><p></p><p>Most of these don't seem to me to be designed as battle maps, just as art pieces. I can't tell you whether they are AI or not; the creator will have to confirm that. I would say that there is a very homogeneous look to each maps folder, and the headers sound a lot like AI prompts. There are no artist credits anywhere.</p><p></p><p>So, you get a few thousand art pieces. I'd argue that realistically you get a few dozen pieces and a lot of variations on them, and that many of them aren't really useful as game maps.</p><p></p><p>I'll leave you to make up your own minds. If I were buying them for use, I'd be disappointed. As it happens, I just bought them for review purposes, so while I may be out £26 I wasn't really in need of 5,000 maps!</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Morrus, post: 9483204, member: 1"] [B]Review of "D&D Realms" (dndrealms.com)[/B] D&D Realms purports to sell 5,000 D&D maps for £22. Additionally, there are 250+ character tokens available. They claim to have thousands of satisfied customers, so they're clearly very successful. As it's impossible to preview the product outside of some small cropped thumbnails, I've taken a hit for the team and purchased the basic pack for £22 (there are 'advanced' and 'complete' packs for £26 and £31, respectively). Here's a basic review, with a few selected examples. So, after purchase you get an email with a link to a folder online full of maps. Some are overheard views, others are isometric views. The folder contains a whole load of subfolders, each with a map type in it. The folders basically look like this (this is the 'country" folder): [ATTACH type="full" alt="Screenshot 2024-10-16 at 12.06.27 PM.png"]382774[/ATTACH] The maps within (and each folder has between 4 and 50-ish maps) are all given the same title. [I]"A bustling street market alive with the aroma of spices and the chatter of vendors"[/I] for example contains 56 variations on that map/theme. [I]"A bustling fishing harbor with boats unloading their catch and seagulls wheeling overhead"[/I] contains 33 variations on that map. Some others, such as [I]"A mysterious fog-shrouded swamp with twisted trees and hidden dangers"[/I] contain just 4 or so variations. Here's an example of one of the latter (from the swamp folder): [ATTACH type="full" alt="Screenshot 2024-10-16 at 11.57.37 AM.png"]382770[/ATTACH] This one is in the 'canyons' folder (along with 4 other similar pieces). [ATTACH type="full" alt="Screenshot 2024-10-16 at 11.58.47 AM.png"]382771[/ATTACH] Those look like isometric art pieces (no grid). The 'castel' (sic) folder has a mix of isometric and overhead views. Here's one of the overhead views. [ATTACH type="full" alt="Screenshot 2024-10-16 at 12.00.33 PM.png"]382772[/ATTACH] Every map has a descriptive header at the top--in each folder, all the maps have the same header. The above one, for example, along with its 8 variations all say [I]"A mysterious labyrinth hidden beneath an ancient castle, filled with secrets and traps"[/I]. [ATTACH type="full" alt="Screenshot 2024-10-16 at 12.02.55 PM.png"]382773[/ATTACH] The folders themselves have names like: canyon, castel (sic), cave, coral, country, forest, garden, harbor, hilltop, lake side, market, moutain (sic), oasis, park, river side, ruin, sea side, skyscrapers, square, street art, street festival, swamp, underground, village, and waterfall. Most of these don't seem to me to be designed as battle maps, just as art pieces. I can't tell you whether they are AI or not; the creator will have to confirm that. I would say that there is a very homogeneous look to each maps folder, and the headers sound a lot like AI prompts. There are no artist credits anywhere. So, you get a few thousand art pieces. I'd argue that realistically you get a few dozen pieces and a lot of variations on them, and that many of them aren't really useful as game maps. I'll leave you to make up your own minds. If I were buying them for use, I'd be disappointed. As it happens, I just bought them for review purposes, so while I may be out £26 I wasn't really in need of 5,000 maps! [/QUOTE]
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